


Mike’s Mini Breakdown

by Strength_in_pain



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bad Parent Ted Wheeler, Crying Mike Wheeler, Emo Mike Wheeler, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Sibling Mike Wheeler, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, Hurt/Comfort, Nancy and Mike Moments, Nancy and Mike bond, Nancy feels guilty about barb, Past Nancy Wheeler Memories, Sad Mike Wheeler, Spanking, Ted Wheeler is a dick, hurt mike wheeler, past Mike wheeler memories, wheeler family drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 10:14:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17847503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: Mike’s spiraling. Will hates to admit it, but Lucas is right. It was a dumb move and his parents will surely be angry, but Mike just doesn’t seem to care. Worst of all, he doesn’t smile anymore.AndNancy laughed sadly at her little brother’s lame attempt to cheer her up. At least he was calming down. Poor kid looked wreaked with those dark bags under his eyes, and his thin, but lanky frame. Nancy wonders briefly how much blame Mike puts on himself for Eleven’s disappearance.Basically, Mike is really depressed about Eleven’s disappearance and he is misbehaving. He gets in trouble and Nancy is a really good big sister who is there to comfort him.





	Mike’s Mini Breakdown

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Corporal Punishment.

“Shit.” Dustin muttered. “You’re so dead.” 

 

“I told you not to do that, Mike, why the hell did you do that.” Lucas cried. 

 

“What did he do?” Will asked, leaning against the school lockers. 

 

“Genius over here thought it would be a good idea to cuss out Mr. Kowalski.” Lucas said, glaring at his small friend. 

 

“You gotta admit. It was pretty awesome.” Dustin said, smiling and clapping Mike’s back. 

 

“It was stupid.” Lucas roared. “He’s gonna get it big time. His parents are already pissed about the plagiarism incident. And then there’s the staying out until four in the morning thing.” 

 

Will frowned, staring at his shoes because he didn’t want to see the sad, pained expression on Mike’s face anymore. It’s been there since Eleven disappeared after saving them from the demogorgon and Will can’t stand it. Will feels guilty as hell thinking he’s the reason Mike had to lose El in the first place. If he wasn’t dragged to the upside down maybe his friend wouldn’t have had to lose his first love. 

 

Now, Mike’s spiraling. Will hates to admit it, but Lucas is right. It was a dumb move and his parents will surely be angry, but Mike just doesn’t seem to care. Worst of all, he doesn’t smile anymore. He never wants to play. When they do play D&D, Will can feel the difference. Mike’s pretend smile is so fake it hurts. 

 

Which sucks. It sucks majorly because Mike is an amazing person. He’s selfless, brave, protective, and understanding. There’s a reason he’s their Dungeon’s Master. There’s a reason he’s the leader of their party. He’s the Paladin for God’s sakes. But this heroic savior is losing his grip on all of these traits as he continues to slip down a path of self destruction. 

 

He’s fighting kids in school. Albeit he’s fighting the bullies that are messing with his friends, just like how he shoved Troy last year. But he’s still fighting. Compassionate Mike and fighting don’t mix. 

 

His behavior has Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler at a loss of what to do. They already took his Atari. It’s the first thing they do every time Mike is in trouble because the kid has an emotional attachment to that game and it crushes him every time they take it. Usually, Mike would be on his best behavior to get it back, but now he’s out doing the next bad thing he can think of. He’s lashing out in pain at everything and almost everybody. It’s like he’s crying out for help and no one can hear him. No one except Will, but the only problem is Will has his own issues to deal with and he needs Mike. 

 

“Why did you stay out until 4am anyway?” Dustin asked. 

 

“He was looking for -“ Lucas paused, “You know who.” He whispered. 

 

“Eleven!” Mike suddenly roared. “I was looking for Eleven. It’s okay, Lucas. You can say it. We should say her damn name. She’s not cursed.”

 

“Mike.”

 

“No it’s fine. I’m fine.” 

 

Lucas sighed heavily, “Dude, your Dad looks mad. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” He asked as he saw Mr. Wheeler exit the principal’s office while shaking the principals hand. 

 

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Mike mumbled, feeling suddenly very tired and very small. 

 

“Do you want me to come over after school and check on you?” Lucas asked since he lived right next door. 

 

Being best friends and neighbors certainly had it’s advantages. There were some nights when Mike would sneak into Lucas’ house through his window and talk with him for a while. They would talk about everything from their favorite games to their deepest fears. There were nights when they would hide under the covers and cry together if things in their lives were going bad like when Lucas got a bad grade and his parents yelled at him or Mike’s Mom got drunk. 

 

One time it was really bad, and Mike had burnt his hand on Mr. Sinclair’s grill. Lucas felt so guilty that he spent the next three days climbing through Mike’s window to bring him ice and chocolates. 

 

“I’ll be fine.” Mike repeated, looking anywhere but in Lucas’ eyes. “What do you think my Dad’s going to do? Murder me?”

 

“Well...” Will drifted off. He saw the angry glares of his three best friends and shrugged, “Sorry.” 

 

“Michael!” All three boys flinched except for Mike. He just slumped down, and tugged at his backpack straps. “Let’s go, son.” 

 

Mike slowly trudged after his Dad, not even bothering to give his friends a second look. 

 

“What’s up with him?” Will asked quietly, “Why did he curse out Mr. Kowalski?” 

 

“Cause Kowalkski’s a jackass.” Dustin informed, looking sympathetically towards Lucas. 

 

“Stop it.” Lucas said. Then he sighed. “Look, Will, Kowalski said I didn’t do my homework because I’m lazy and it runs deep in my ancestry. Which isn’t even true.” He seethed. 

 

“He basically said Lucas is a lazy black kid that doesn’t know any better because they are the lesser race.” Dustin paraphrased. 

 

“Jesus.” Will muttered, “I’m so sorry Lucas. Don’t listen to that crap. Some people -“

 

“It’s okay, Will. I mean, it’s not. But I’m used to it. Mike shouldn’t have cussed him out. I told him not to.”

 

“What did Mike say?” Will whispered, “I’m afraid to ask.” 

 

Dustin laughed, “I was proud of him. He told  Mr. Kowalski to go screw himself. Then Kowalski was like, excuse me. And Mike was all like, you heard me, and while your at it why don’t you shove another stick up your ass. And then Mr. Kowalski was all like, go to the principals office you little brat. And Mike said, make me, bastard. It was awesome.” 

 

“Oh my God.” Will laughed. 

 

“It’s not funny guys.” Lucas said, “I overheard his Dad talking to the principal and he said Mike’s going to go straight to his room and then he’s going to ‘get it.’”

 

Dustin frowned, “Wait. Like get it, get it?” 

 

“That’s what it sounded like to me.” 

 

“But he was just trying to make Lucas feel better.” Will said. 

 

“I don’t think his Dad cares about that.” Lucas muttered. “Man, I told him not to do it. I said, sit down Mike and shut up, Mike. But did he listen? No, he just had to keep talking.” 

“Poor Mike. We have to do something.” 

“What do you suggest we do, Will? Call his Dad and ask him to stop?” 

“We could call his Mom.” 

“Will.”

“Oh! We could call my Mom.” Will said even more excitedly. 

“Okay, How is that going to solve anything?” Lucas asked. 

“My mom loves Mike and she likes Mrs. Wheeler. I’m sure she can talk them out of it.” 

“You could try.” Dustin said shrugging. “But we got another problem. Mike’s not here and we have an A.V. Club meeting to get through without our president.”

“You don’t think Mr. Clarke will cancel on us, do you?” Will asked worriedly. 

“He canceled it when you were gone.” Dustin said, patting Will’s back. “So yeah, probably.” 

“Come on. We need to think of a really good pitch.” Lucas said. “Let’s go to the A.V. room.” 

                   _____________________

Mike strutted at least five feet in front of his father, being the first one to the front door of the house. He started to walk up the stairs, when his father spoke. 

“Get your butt in your room.”

“That’s where I’m going.” Mike muttered under his breath. 

“When I come up there, you’re going to be sorry you ever thought of swearing at your teacher.”

Mike stopped walking and came back down the steps. “Dad, he had it coming. The man was a racist son of a bitch.” 

Ted Wheeler stomped over, grabbed Mike by the arm, and proceeded to plant three heavy smacks on his son’s backside. 

“What did I say about swearing. Especially to your teachers?” 

Mike felt his face heat. His Dad pulled him back, and forced to look up because the man had his chin in a hold. 

“Sorry.” Mike said quietly. He was never one for trouble. He’s usually a good kid. Before the whole situation with Eleven, he never got in trouble and if he did a simple scolding would send him to tears. But right now he didn’t feel sad or guilty, nor did he feel angry or bitter. He just felt alone, more isolated than before. 

When his Dad let go of his chin, Mike raced to his room. Unfortunately to get there, he had to pass his sister’s room. 

“Mike?” Nancy asked worriedly. It’s not everyday her brother runs past her room in tears. 

“Hey.” She yelled, jumping off the bed. “Come back here.” Mike halted in the hallway, scrubbing at his eyes.  

“What happened? Why are you crying?” Nancy asked and Mike kind of fell into her arms. He didn’t even know how badly he needed a hug until now. It was so hard trying to take care of everyone else. It was nice, for once, to just let go and cry out all of the emotions he was holding inside. 

“Did you lash out again?” Nancy asked, trying for figure out why he was so upset. She knew he was home from school early, so he must have caused trouble again. Fifth time this week, nice. 

Mike coughed, and clutched her back. It was weird for him to show such physical affection towards her. He had hugged his big sister a lot when he was little, but once he reached the age of ten, he started to back off. 

“Nancy.” 

The way he pleaded her name was so desperate and pained that Nancy instinctively squeezed his head to her chest and kissed his jet black hair. It was equally weird for her to be so affectionate to him. But Mike was her little brother, and when he cried, she hurt. It switched her into big sister mode. A motherly instinct she had within her ever since her dork of a brother was born. 

“Shhh. Hey. It’s alright.” 

Mike nodded against her chest, “I miss her so much.” He sobbed, choking on his tears. 

“Whoa, Whoa. Breathe.” She said softly as his coughing picked up. 

“Nancy, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself but I do. I’m just angry and then I’m sad. And Dad...” Mike hiccuped, “He doesn’t understand. And now I’m going to get it, and I don’t want to get it.” He cried brokenly, feeling very lightheaded and dizzy. “I just feel like...sad, no, I feel nothingness all the time and it’s...it’s horrible. But right now I’m feeling everything. Too many emotions and I want it to stop. Please Nancy make it stop.” 

“It’s alright. Mike, please calm down. Come on. Let’s get you in my room. You can lay in my bed.” Nancy suggests, leading her brother to her room. 

“I’m so sorry.” 

“I’m not mad at you.” She whispered. “I totally understand how you feel. When Barb was killed.” Nancy had to stop herself for a second, her own voice was completely choked up. “I can’t help but feel like it was my fault, you know?” She felt a few tears escape down her cheeks, but she quickly used the bedcovers as a handkerchief and dried them. 

“Nance. It wasn’t your fault.” Mike said, sniffling. 

She shook her head, “I told her to go home. If I didn’t tell her to go home she might still be alive.”

“No Nancy. It’s not your fault. You wanted to show her a good time and when you realized she wasn’t having fun, you told her she could go home. How were you supposed to know some crazy, psycho, faceless man from another dimension was lurking outside?” 

Nancy laughed sadly at her little brother’s lame attempt to cheer her up. At least he was calming down. Poor kid looked wreaked with those dark bags under his eyes, and his thin, but lanky frame. Nancy wonders briefly how much blame Mike puts on himself for Eleven’s disappearance. 

“Oh Mike. I love you kiddo. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more with Eleven.” 

“It’s okay.” He whispered, the last of the water drying from his cheeks. “I’m sorry too.” 

“I’m here for you now.” She said. “If you need anything...” 

They shared a smile that only lasted a second before the bedroom door swung open, and Ted Wheeler walked inside. Mike let out a whimper, leaning behind his sister for protection.  

“I thought I told you to go to your bedroom.” Ted said, hands on his hips. 

“Dad, I pulled him in here.” Nancy said cautiously. Poor Mike, she could feel him trembling behind her, gripping her purple jacket. 

Ted sighed, muttering a small, “Fine. It doesn’t matter anyway.” Then he pointed at Mike with his finger and curled it forward motioning for him to ‘come here.’

Nancy didn’t really know what to do. It’s been a whole year since Mike was last spanked. And even then, it was only a few whacks on the ass for taking mom’s money for the arcade. 

But right now, Dad seemed serious. Like the time when Nancy was angry at Mike for playing in her room. He destroyed her favorite stuffed animal dog on accident, but she was devastated. To ten year old Nancy, that dog was like a real dog and Mike murdered him. So she did the worst thing ever, and pushed her brother off of her bed. Of course, Mike suffered a small casualty from the attack: a bruised leg that sent him wailing. But Nancy was too angry to care. She marched him out of her room, down the stairs, and outside on the front porch. With a loud slam of the door, Nancy locked him outside. Needless to say, her parents were not thrilled to find their seven-year-old boy crying outside the house. After that she got her ass beaten bloody by her father. Mike was pretty young at the time, so the sound of it scared him enough to hide in the basement under the covers. Nancy remembers going down there, even when she was in pain, to comfort her little brother. She took a Pepsi and a big bag of potato chips as a peace offering and they spent the rest of the night laughing about their favorite movie characters. She’s always been the one to comfort Mike. Even after she’s mean to him, she has to hug him. It’s like, her job. And she can’t let him suffer the same fate she did all those years ago. Mike doesn’t need a sore butt, he needs someone to listen to him. He needs someone to help him grieve over El. 

When Mike didn’t move, Ted Wheeler raised his eyebrows, seeing this an act of defiance. 

“Get over here, right now.” He bellowed, pointing to the spot directly in front of him. “I’m going to give you to the count of three, young man and if you’re not standing right here, I’ll take away your Dungeon’s and Dragons game and you can say goodbye to your friends for the next week.” 

Mike sobbed. Full out, heart wrenchingly cried. He loves Dungeons and Dragons like he loves Eleven. Losing that would be way too much for him. It might send him over the edge into the emotional breakdown he’s heading for. Nancy signed, and turned to him. “You better go.” She suggested. 

“One.” Mr. Wheeler said, looking deadly serious. 

“Mike. Go.” Nancy encouraged. She really didn’t want to witness him getting an ass beating but to see him lose his D&D game would be far worse. That would crush her little brother too much. 

“Two.” Ted said with venom. 

Mike gave his sister one last helpless look, before quickly scooting off the bed and walking to his Dad’s side. He held his head in shame, and Nancy wanted to punch her father. 

That stupid man doesn’t do anything for this family anyways, she thought bitterly. He never cares unless his wife tells him to care. He doesn’t play games with us. He doesn’t offer much advice when his wife is speaking. He just sits in his lazy-boy all day long and sleeps. Thank God he brings home a paycheck, because that’s about all he’s good for. The only reason he’s so angry at Mike is because the principal called during one of his precious naps. So sorry your son is such a disruption, Nancy thought to herself with a major scowl on her face. This was complete bullshit. 

“He’s really upset.” Nancy said, before her father could say anything else. 

Ted kept his eyes on his son while he addressed Nancy, “I can see that.” 

“Then you shouldn’t do this. He’s been through enough.” 

“Been through what? I know last year was difficult with Will’s disappearance, but Will is back and he’s safe. And frankly I am sick of him acting out because of it.”

“That’s not why he’s acting out. There are other reasons.” Nancy tried to explain, but Mike was shaking his head and giving her the “cut it out” symbol. She knows they can’t talk about Eleven. It’s too dangerous to get anyone else involved, but it’s times like this where she wants to scream it from the roof tops. Like, hello, your son is grieving! He’s emotionally gotten his ass handed to him last year when he watched his best friend and first love scream bloody murder as she sacrificed herself to save Mike. Like have some freaking sympathy. 

“What reasons?” Dad asked honestly and genuinely curious. He turned to his son, “Michael? Care to explain why you cussed out your teacher today? Enlighten me on these so called reasons. What went through your mind?” 

Mike looked up at his Dad, his deep brown eyes swimming with tears. “I told you. He was being mean. He said a racist slur towards Lucas, and that’s not okay.” Mike nearly whimpered. Nancy could hear the plea behind his voice that screamed listen to me. Try and understand, Dad. But Dad wasn’t listening. When does he ever? 

“Maybe so, but it’s also not okay to curse him out in the middle of class.” 

Mike sniffled, dropping his gaze back to the ground. His stance read I give up. 

“You were both in the wrong. Now he will be in trouble with the school and you will be in trouble at home.” 

“Can’t you just chalk this up as a misunderstanding.” Nancy said, throwing in her two cents. 

“No Nancy. Because I chalked up his spray painting of the gymnasium as a misunderstanding. I tried to understand why he got in a fight at school. If he was being picked on, I get it. I didn’t punish him for plagiarizing that paper which I really wanted to do, but I didn’t. And I even let the exploding milkshake incident go.” 

“It was an accident. He forgot to put the lid on.” Nancy defended. “No big deal.” 

“That’s what you said before, so I let it go. But I will not tolerate it anymore. This bad behavior stops now.” Ted said, grabbing Mike’s upper arm. 

Nancy thought he was going to drag the kid back to his room, but she didn’t expect him to start walloping the kid’s ass right here. 

There was a loud crack, and seconds later the pain registered in Mike’s mind and he jumped like a flame touched him. 

“Ow! Hey!” Mike shouted in protest as the second swat fell. Now, his Dad was sending a fury of swats upon his clothed backside. It wasn’t long before Ted grabbed at the waistband of Mike’s pants. 

Nancy closed her eyes and turned away, feeling extremely guilty for even witnessing this punishment. Her poor brother didn’t deserve to be humiliated. 

“Dad, no!” Was all Mike could say before his pants were just slightly lowered below his pale backside. There was enough bare skin visible for Ted to slap, and boy did he smack it. 

Nancy cringed at the firecracker sound it made. It was like the shotgun of a car backfiring. 

“Jesus, Dad. You don’t need to be so hard on him.” She screamed turning her face back to the scene with new pissed-off vigor. 

Ted continued to rain down smacks, covering Mike’s creamy soft skin in a pattern of angry red splotches. 

Mike hissed. The pain was starting to intensify to a deep ache. He was trying to squirm away at this point. He just wanted to go to the basement and hide. 

He squirmed in growing discomfort, grabbing up a fistful of his father’s shirt in front of him and squeezing hard. “OW! Okay, I get it. I won’t do it again. You can stop now.” 

Nancy agreed. Her Dad could definitely stop now, Mike’s skin was looking chafed and extremely sore. But apparently Ted Wheeler wanted to be a bastard today. 

   
Mike yelped, eyes squeezing shut in distress, the pain suffocating him now. He couldn’t remember the last time his dad had lit into him with such intensity, but then again, he thought with newfound regret, he couldn’t remember doing anything bad for  three weeks straight. 

“Am I gonna be getting any more calls from the school?” Ted questioned.

 “No,” Mike whispered in misery, hot tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. His skin was on fire at this point. “Hurts.” His words were accompanied by a fresh batch of tears glistening in his eyes. 

Ted finally let go of Mike. Thank God, Nancy thought, watching with deep sadness as her brother immediately scooted out of Dad’s reach. He tugged his pants up quickly, then threw a hand back to rub at the lingering sting resonating across his backside. He shot his Dad a watery hate-filled glare. Ted studied his kids for a moment and then he decided it was time to leave again. No need to pretend to be a father anymore, Nancy thought angrily, giving him her best glare as well.

“I’m going to watch T.V. Don’t bother me. And when your mother gets back, you two are going to be on your best behavior. No more arguing. No more swearing. And no more smart-mouthed comments from either of you, understand?” 

Nancy wasn’t even sure what she did, as a matter of fact, she did nothing wrong, but she decided to agree anyway for the sake of her little brother. But the anger that boiled in her veins allowed her to say one last thing. 

“Mom’s going to be pissed.” 

Ted gave her a casual shrug. “I think your mother will agree it was called for. And if not, well, when is your mother not mad at me?” 

Mike sniffled wetly, and used the back of his sleeve to dry his eyes. It was no use though, because new tears kept coming. 

Nancy knew it wasn’t just the physical pain that was causing her brother so much sadness but everything else he had gone through was finally spilling out. And Nancy was okay with that. She would be there for him. 

Damn, Mike was sad though. Nancy has been with him for the past hour now, sitting with him in her bedroom and trying to comfort him, but every time he'd start to calm down a fresh wave of hysterics would wrack his body within minutes, forcing him back under. 

Nancy lost track of time just holding him, rubbing his back and giving him soft comforting kisses to his forehead. There wasn't much she could say really, because she doesn't actually know what all happened between Mike and Eleven and she doesn't think now is the time to ask anymore. She knows how El disappeared because he told her that one after an intense nightmare. She was comforting him and he spilled as to why Eleven was missing and why he was so sad. But Nancy doesn’t know anything else. She doesn’t know the types of adventures they had together. But she doesn’t need to. She knows by the way her brother talks about her that she was special. 

Nancy made soothing shushing sounds to try and calm Mike down for about the first 20 minutes before she realized Mike just needed to let it all out. It kills her to see him like this, and it's even worse she doesn't know what to do to help in the slightest. She feels absolutely useless.

"I'm here for you, Mike. Whenever you need me. You're my brother and I love you and I never want to see you in this much pain. I wanna help in anyway that I can, okay? Just tell me what you need. Please, just talk to me."

  
Mike buries his face even further into Nancy, silently telling her that he just needs to be held and consoled, the entirety of his body weight now resting on his big sister, needing the physical reassurance that Nancy will block out the rest of the world around him. Mike needs a break from reality. And Nancy’s always been Mike’s go to when it comes to escaping.

After a few more minutes Nancy lays next to him on the bed, never breaking her hold on the younger boy, and Mike never removing his face from the darkness and safety of Nancy’s shoulder. Neither say a word.

  
Nancy’s fingers start tracing gentle patterns into Mike’s skin, knowing it's always calmed herself down when she was upset; she's hoping it'll comfort her little brother as well. 

Mike’s fingers tighten in Nancy’s shirt and his body tenses for a moment before relaxing against Nancy once again.

  
Mike is still shaking uncontrollably, his breathing ragged, and his eyes red and swollen, but he seems to be calming down again, at least for the moment. 

Eventually Mike’s body can't physically produce anymore tears, and still Nancy doesn't let him go. Mike doesn't make a move to leave either, too exhausted to care much about anything. He passes out in Nancy’s arms, safe and tucked away from the world, his body finally getting the rest it needs.

Nancy is utterly shocked. Sweet, composed, happy-go-lucky Mike may very well be the saddest, most broken of them all. Hiding it all too well where not even his best friends suspected anything at all. How none of them noticed is beyond Nancy, they can read each other as if they were thinking it themselves; being around each other everyday for years like they have, they've developed such a deep bond, it's hard to describe to people how much they each mean to each other when asked about it. 

She kicks herself again for letting Mike down by being too caught up in her own world to see that he was in this much pain.  
Nancy feels like absolute shit for not checking in on him sooner and she falls into a fitful sleep a few hours after Mike. 

She wakes an hour later to her mother’s voice. 

“Sweetie, What happened? Why are you and Mike sleeping?” 

Nancy’s eyes drifted to her little brother all snug under her covers, his black hair tousled, his eyeslids shut but fluttering, and his thumb gently pressed against his lips, not quiet in his mouth, but still, hanging there for comfort. 

“Did Dad tell you?” Nancy asked, sitting up. Her movement was waking Mike. 

“Tell me what, sweetheart?” 

“About Mike. He got in trouble at school again.” 

“Michael.” Mrs. Wheeler’s voice was stern. 

“Mom it’s okay. Dad punished him. That’s why we’re sleeping in here.” 

“Mom.” Mike’s voice was right in between an adult voice and baby voice. It was higher-pitched than last year, but still not much older. 

His eyes watered again, and Nancy couldn’t stand to see him start crying again. “No Mike, it’s okay. Just relax, everything’s okay.” 

Nancy’s mom gave her a look that basically said, “what the hell happened.” 

Sighing, she quietly told her mother what had happened. A few minutes later, Karen and Ted Wheeler we’re having a screaming match downstairs. It didn’t happen often because usually Dad always did what Mom said, but when he goes and does crap like this without consulting her they get in long screaming matches. 

“You okay, Mike?” Nancy asked, as her little brother rolled around in bed. 

“These corduroys are uncomfortable.” He muttered. “Would you mind if I took them off and put on some sweats?”

Nancy got out of bed, “no problem, kid.” She said. She walked to her brother’s room and pulled out a drawer revealing his pants. She grabbed his comfy sweats and flicked the light switch off. On her way back to her room, she stopped to check on her little sister. Holly was sitting in bed crying too. 

“Hey Holly,” Nancy whispered, slipping her arms around her three-year-old sister, and lifting her up. “It’s okay. Mommy and Daddy are just having a little disagreement. Why don’t you join me and Mike?” 

She carried her baby sister back to her room. 

“Here,” Nancy tossed Mike his sweats, and sat Holly on the bed. 

“Mike!” Holly yelled, crawling over to him. 

“Hey Holl.” Mike patted her head. Then he stood up on stiff legs and took down his blue pants. 

Mike’s underwear had pulled down slightly from the fabric of the jeans pulling on them, and Nancy could see the red marks that scatter the top of his butt more clearly. His whole backside looked severely irritated, and a little raw. 

Mike tugs his underwear back up, and his sweats as well. He slides back into bed next to Nancy, pulling the covers up around them. He wraps his arm around Nancy’s waist, pulling her to his side, and snuggles his face into her stomach, still craving some comfort. 

“You’re going to be okay, Mike.”  

He knew he would be. He was safe with his sister. The saddest part is tomorrow when he’s feeling better, Nancy will forget this ever happened and go back to focusing on Steve Harrington and Jonathan Byers. Moments like these are incredibly rare, and he is thankful he got this. 


End file.
